He played a vampire on Supernatural.

And now he'll be playing the father of a witch on The Vampire Diaries.

The veteran actor (CSI, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica) has landed one of the most anticipated roles of Season 4, coming on board later this year as the mysterious father of Kat Graham's Bonnie.

Fans know very little about Rudy Hopkins, who has been estranged from his daughter for years and scarcely even mentioned during the show's run.

But we do know Bonnie's dad is not a fan of his child's spell-casting side, and we also know that side has already led to some serious problems for Bonnie early on the Vampire Diaries Season 4.

Look for Hopkins to swoop in to Mystic Falls and try to protect his daughter from the dark forces assembling there. He will debut on Episode 10.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.